Choose God: 4 Strategies to Draw Closer to Him Every Day (Part 4)

We’re on the last part of our series “Choose God: 4 Strategies to Draw Closer to Him Every Day.” How wonderful it is to have multiple ways to connect with God! 😍

During the past two months, we’ve been learning about ways to stay connected with God on a daily basis. The first strategy was dedicated to devotionals. The second strategy was focused on developing a grateful heart. And the third strategy led us to find and know God through Bible reading plans. The final strategy is one that you can do anywhere and anytime. Jump into the reading to find out what it’s all about!

My Argentinian Friend

A few weeks ago, I traveled with my husband and my mother to Europe with a company that offers tours of several countries on that continent. On our trip, I became friends with Analía, a woman from Argentina. In our conversations, she told me that in every city she visited, she'd look for a church and go inside to talk to God. She did this to express her desires, anxieties, and longings to God as she faced a cancer diagnosis for the third time. Her desire to spend time with God impressed me. Before she visited any landmark or historical place in our trip, she was looking to have alone time with God. Isn’t that beautiful? Analía’s faith inspired me to bring you the fourth strategy: timed prayer.

🧎‍♂️‍➡️Prayer

Spending time in prayer is an excellent way to grow our intimacy with God. Prayer helps declutter our minds. It allows us to share anything with God. It gives us the opportunity to listen to what God has to say regarding our concerns, questions, discomfort, and petitions. Moreover, prayer has a positive effect on our lives. 

Recently, I was listening to a podcast where Dr. Andrew Newberg, a neurologist that explores the relationship between neuroscience and spiritual experiences, said that scientific studies have shown that praying between 12 and 15 minutes daily has a positive effect on how we think and act in our day to day.

Strategy #4 - Timed Prayer ⏱️

Yes, you read that right! Timed prayer as in counting the time you spend praying. The purpose of this exercise is to help you create the habit of talking to God every day. I've been practicing it for two months now, and I can assure you that the results are positive and lasting. The steps I detail below are the ones I've used to increase my time in prayer. I invite you to try them! You'll be surprised how close you will feel to God.

Step 1: Identify a time and place where you’re able to talk to God alone.

Step 2: Bring a timer to your conversation with God.

Step 3: Set the timer for five minutes each day for one week. Then, increase the time by adding two, three, five minutes etc. until you find yourself praying for 12 minutes or longer. This step will help you gradually increase your time in prayer.

Step 4: Be an open book with God. Tell Him what you’re grateful for, your concerns, doubts, struggles, and dreams. Tell Him everything!

Step 5: Repeat the steps above until you don’t need to time your prayer moment.

Final Words

My friends, prayer brings you closer to God in an incredible way. Take my friend Analía as an example. Although she was discovering new places, she wanted to stay connected with God because He is her source of hope. God is a God for every day, place, season, and time. Prayer allows us to relate to our Creator in a more intimate, honest, and profound way.

Take a Leap of Faith

When will you start the timed prayer exercise to spend time alone with God?

Don’t know what to say while praying? Find some ideas in my post “9 Simple Prayers for When You Don’t Know What to Pray.”

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